


TAZ: Balance AU

by ten_year_late_emo



Series: TAZ: Balance AU [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series), The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Campaign: Balance (The Adventure Zone), Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders Are Twins, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, IPRE Crew | Starblaster Crew as Family, M/M, Multi, Sides As Family (Sanders Sides), Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:34:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26255728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ten_year_late_emo/pseuds/ten_year_late_emo
Summary: This is just the basic idea/outline of the Adventure Zone: Balance au I've been working on for Sanders Sides. I'm mostly testing the waters to see if this is something anyone would be interested in actually reading
Relationships: Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders, Dr. Emile Picani/Sleep | Remy Sanders, The Sides & The Sides (Sanders Sides), Thomas Sanders (Video Blogging RPF) & Everyone
Series: TAZ: Balance AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1922983
Comments: 6
Kudos: 19





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Major spoilers for The Adventure Zone: Balance! (Obviously) I highly recommend listening to TAZ if you haven't; there's also transcripts available online for all of Balance if you have a hard time focusing on podcasts (like me).
> 
> Like the summary says, this is my explanation of the au and the characters. I know that there's a TikTok account doing their own version of this au (and I love them), but mine is a bit different

Okay, so. In case I haven't said it enough times, this is my Sanders Sides The Adventure Zone: Balance au. I started working on it a few months ago when I was relistening to Story and Song again

**Basic info:**

It's gonna follow the plot of the podcast, though some of it may be taken from the graphic novels instead, and it would be posted in the same order as the actual podcast (if I do end up posting it)

**Characters:**

(I'm gonna do this in the order I chose them, not the actual order of the Seven Birds)

  * Patton as Lucretia/The Director 
    * This was really what inspired the idea as a whole. Because Lucretia just wanted to do what she thought was right, no matter what it took. She put the rest of the world before herself and her family. That definitely strikes me as something Patton would do if he was in the situation Lucretia was in. And I liked the idea of Patton acting as a super put-together leader of an organization and as the chronicler for the IPRE mission


  * Logan as Davenport 
    * This one was also pretty easy after deciding Patton was Lucretia. I know there isn't too much Cap'n'port content in the podcast (unfortunately), but from what we were shown, he seems to be incredibly serious and like he doesn't take shit from anybody, but when you get to know him, he opens up more and becomes less strict. And that reminds me a lot of Logan. And the idea of Logan ending up in Davenport's situation was something I thought would be interesting. He also didn't fit too well with anyone else (other than maybe Barry)


  * Roman and Remus are, of course, Lup and Taako. But I didn't go the obvious route because I thought it'd be more interesting to write it this way
  * Remus is Taako 
    * I know most people would put him as Lup, and I almost did. But a big part of this choice was the scene after they get their memories back, when Taako threatens Lucretia. That felt more like something Remus would do. I also liked the idea of Remus forgetting Roman more than the other way around
  * Roman is Lup 
    * Like with Remus, part of this is due to the reaction to Lucretia/Patton. I think Roman would forgive Patton easily, like Lup did with Lucretia, but I can't see Remus doing the same. I think his personality aligns more with Lup than Taako, too


  * Virgil is Magnus 
    * I mean, Virgil is the fight or flight response, his job is to make sure no one gets hurt. He's the protector. Like Magnus. I don't have much else to say here, honestly. Other than just imagine Virgil with the Voidfish


  * Janus is Barry 
    * I really liked the idea of Janus being made into the villain like Barry was, but still doing everything he could to protect/help his family even when they didn't trust him. I think Barry's characterization as "the evil Red Robe" was really fitting for Janus. And I didn't really know who else he could be


  * Emile is Merle 
    * Honestly, this is mostly because I didn't know who else to put as Merle. But also, if anyone would befriend the Hunger and see the best in him, it would definitely be Emile. The more I wrote this, the more I liked it so


  * Remy is Kravitz 
    * This one was pretty easy. I really don't have anything to say about it. I just like the idea of Remy as a grim reaper and I think he'd fit well as Kravitz


  * And finally: Character Thomas as Angus 
    * I knew I wanted to have Character Thomas in it, but I wasn't sure who. I almost put him as Johann instead. But then I thought about it, and Angus is pretty much raised by the Bureau/THB and he learns a lot from them all. Kind of like how Character Thomas learns a lot from the Sides



**Ships:**

  * ~~The Starblaster~~


  * Obviously we've got Roceit as Blupjeans  

    * Mostly because I once saw a tumblr post (I can't remember who made it) that said "Imagine Janus and Roman with the Duet scene from TAZ" and I love that. And Roceit has quickly become my favorite Sanders Sides ship


  * And then (sorry to disappoint some of you) we've got Remile as Taakitz 
    * I just don't personally ship Remsleep (I think that's what the ship name is?). And I feel like Emile would be more likely to talk Remy out of reaping them than Remus would


  * And I'm also doing Intrulogical 
    * Which is weird if you think about the actual TAZ characters but we're not gonna talk about that. I just like Intrulogical


  * And any of the ships from canon (like Hurley & Sloane and Killian & Carey) are gonna be the same



**Other Things:**

  * For the most part the personalities will be based more on Sanders Sides rather then the TAZ characters they’re based on 
    * But there will still be a decent amount of inspiration from the TAZ characters
    * And no matter what, some of them are probably gonna be out of character


  * I don’t have a better name for the Starblaster, so it’s probably just gonna stay the same 
    * I thought about doing the Mindpalace or Mindscape or something, but I don’t know how I feel about that


  * The titles for each of the Birds are gonna stay the same 
    * So: The Twins, The Lover, The Protector, The Lonely Journal-Keeper, The Peacemaker, and The Wordless One


  * There’s gonna be some changes regarding what certain characters do 
    * First example I can think of is that Remus is gonna be the one to eat the Philosopher’s Stone, not Virgil, even though Magnus did it in canon. Because Remus 100% would


  * There aren’t gonna be a lot of major changes to the backstories from TAZ, but there are gonna be some small ones 
    * For example, Julia is gonna be Virgil’s best friend, not his wife. They’ll have a more sibling-like relationship


  * Any other character is just gonna stay the same as they were in canon 
    * Meaning Killian will still be Killian, Johann will still be Johann, etc


  * If I do actually commit to posting this, I’m not gonna go through every scene/episode of every arc 
    * I’ll do most of the main parts, but anything that isn’t super important will probably skipped over unless it’s a scene I want to write or if anyone reading it really wants me to write it
    * And for the most part it's not gonna switch between point of views when the characters are separated 
      * It's gonna mostly be Remus, since I have the easiest time writing him and Roman


  * A lot of the dialogue and most descriptions will come from the transcripts because Griffin McElroy is fantastic at world building and all of them are great at conversations  

    * Some things they said out of character will be added to the dialogue
    * Some lines will be said by characters that weren’t the ones who said them originally
    * Some phrasing is gonna be changed to better fit the Sides themselves
    * And I'm probably gonna add some more dialogue that wasn't in the podcast too
    * Also, there's gonna be a lot of swearing, naturally, it is the McElroys



I think that's about it? Let me know your thoughts


	2. Questions & More Info

Okay, so.

I am writing this. I know it's been kind of a while. But that's because I don't want to post until I have all of Here There Be Gerblins done, that way you won't be waiting however long for me to post a new chapter/episode. And it's definitely gonna take quite some time for me to finish Murder on the Rockport Limited after that. I really hope you'll be patient with me. I promise I'm going to finish this AU no matter how long it takes because I really do love it. If I ever change my mind, I'll tell you that I plan on stopping. But as of now, I'm planning on writing all of it.

There are some other things I want to ask about and get feedback on if anyone's willing. So here's that:

  * Should I switch the twins' schools of magic? Like, I know Taako is transmutation and Lup is evocation. But should I keep it that way and have Remus be transmutation and Roman evocation? Or should I switch them? I feel like evocation is definitely a very Remus thing, but obviously, that would end up changing a lot. I don't know. What do y'all think?



  * I kind of want to write more like? Almost-memories? I don't know how to say it. In the podcast, we obviously didn't get internal monologues or thought processes from the characters. But this is gonna be written from a specific point of view so there's gonna be a lot of thoughts. Do you think I should have the characters have moments where they can remember small things that weren't erased? Like, times where they'll say or think something about one of the others and then be like _"Wait, how do I know that?"_ That type of thing. Is that anything or?



  * Also, would you want points of view from different characters? So far I've just been writing it from Remus' perspective, but should I do the others too?



  * Should I write about Remus feeling like he's missing _something_ , but not knowing what it is and having times where he expects someone else to be with him? Like, how obvious should Roman's erasure be? 
    * (I've read a few really good fics about this with Taako missing Lup and it's just a really cool concept to me so)



  * What are some scenes you'd definitely want to see? Not just from Here There Be Gerblins, but from any arc. And I don't mean big, important scenes. I mean the smaller ones. Like the Lunar Interludes. How much of Fantasy Costco (where all your dreams come true) do you want to see? Things like that



  * Are there scenes that weren't in the podcast that I should do? I mean, I'd like to have more Logan, but Davenport didn't have many scenes. So should I add any? Or (if I do use other perspectives) should I show Janus planning? Or Patton?



  * What should I do for Emile's personal life? Merle's story is that he left his wife and kids behind. But Emile isn't gonna have that. So any suggestions for what I should do instead? I could have him still being a therapist and sometimes visiting with clients when he has free time like Merle does with his kids?



  * Should Remus still be the one to teach Thomas magic? Or should I make it Emile or Patton instead?



  * Should Remus and Roman's last name be Wroammin?



I think that's all I've got. I promise I'm gonna post Gerblins as soon as I can

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so glad people are actually interested in this AU. I really do love it. I know this is a lot of questions, sorry about that. You don't need to answer all of them if you don't want to. But I would really appreciate answers for some if anyone's up for it. Just comment here or message me on tumblr (@genderqueer-roman) with any responses or questions you have
> 
> I'm really excited for this AU. Thank you all again for being patient and bearing with me on this


	3. Update

So, it's been kind of a while. Sorry about that. As of posting this, I'm about halfway through Gerblins. I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but it's been a while since I actually listened to this arc and they're long episodes. I've written like 7,000 words so it's a pretty decent amount. And I've reached the part that I'm more familiar with now (meeting Killian, Magic Brian, the Gauntlet, etc), so it should be easier to write the rest of it. I'd like to say I'll have it done by the end of the month, but I don't know if that's true. The semester just started so I'm getting back into school mode. That combined with the usual writer's block and executive dysfunction... Well, it might still be a while yet. It's coming though, I promise. I'm also gonna warn y'all that it's been even longer since I listened to Murder on the Rockport Limited, so that one's probably gonna take just as long, if not longer. I'm also not as into Sanders Sides as I was when I started, which has probably contributed to my lack of motivation. But I am still planning to finish this series. Thank you again for being this patient. I hope this will be worth the wait, but that's up to you guys, I guess.

I could always post an excerpt or the first chapter or something? Or I _could_ post it chapter by chapter. I just think that posting all of it at once would be better for whoever reads it, so that way you won't be waiting however long for each chapter. I don't know. Let me know what you think

**Author's Note:**

> I have a lot written for this, but I didn't want to post it just yet. Especially since I don't know if anyone's actually gonna read it. Let me know what you think and if I should post more
> 
> If you have any questions or anything, you can comment them here or send me an ask on tumblr (@genderqueer-roman) and I will reply at some point, but it might not be quickly


End file.
